Author: Michelin
Book a car on your phone before heading out, and when you open the door, a car is waiting for you. It takes you to your destination smoothly without any traffic jams or waiting for traffic lights. Everything is in order…
When it comes to imagining the future of autonomous driving, we often see these “sci-fi” scenes. However, to achieve this effect, in addition to the vehicle’s adaptive autonomous driving ability, a series of collaborative abilities among vehicles, road infrastructure, environment, and other factors are also essential. This indispensable part is the vehicle-to-road coordinated technology.
On June 15, Ford’s vehicle-to-road coordinated system was implemented in Xi’an, and nearly 100 intersections in Weiyang District and Yantra District were opened. This is the fourth city where Ford’s vehicle-to-road coordinated technology has been applied, following Wuxi, Changsha, and Guangzhou.
On the short-term scale, while fully autonomous driving is not yet possible, to what extent can the vehicle-to-road coordinated system provide us with the possibility of smooth dialogue between vehicles and the surrounding environment? Can Ford’s vehicle-to-road coordinated technology bring us a future where we don’t have to wait for green lights?
Coordinated System Equips Vehicles with Eyes and Ears
Cameras, Lidar, and various perceptive sensors outside the vehicle have become the standard configuration of an intelligent vehicle, helping it perceive everything that happens outside in real-time.
However, even with the most sensitive onboard sensors, it’s still impossible to take a smooth drive:
Maybe the traffic light at the intersection ahead is blocked by a big vehicle, and by the time we see the green light countdown, it’s too late to step on the gas and rush through the yellow light;
Maybe there was an unexpected accident ahead, and by the time we receive a reminder, we’re already stuck in traffic and can’t turn around to change the route;
Maybe the green light at the intersection has already been on for a few seconds, but we didn’t notice it because we were distracted, and we were honked at by the long line of cars behind…
These different scenarios are almost unavoidable on the road every day. Even the most sensitive sensors cannot sense the red and green lights in the blind spots of the field of vision or obstacles, much less predict emergencies dozens or hundreds of meters away.
When this happens, I always think that if we could give the intelligent vehicle a “God’s eye view” in addition to “arming it to the teeth,” it would be great to anticipate the situation ahead of time. This technology of “anticipating” the green light countdown and unexpected situations on the road ahead is known as vehicle-to-road coordination.The vehicle-infrastructure-cloud coordination system is based on the communication mode of the existing commercial 4G cellular network, achieving two-way communication between vehicles, intelligent infrastructure, and the urban traffic cloud control platform through interconnection.
Under this mode, vehicles can transmit surrounding congestion information, real-time road conditions, etc. through roadside intelligent infrastructure to the intelligent networked cloud control platform. The cloud platform can also transmit real-time updated signal light data, vehicle flow information, green light waves, accident information, etc. to other vehicles on the road, providing reminders through images or even sound broadcasts on the instrument panel and central control screen.
Each vehicle equipped with the vehicle-infrastructure-cloud coordination system and each roadside intelligent infrastructure act like omniscient eyes and ears to help you learn about the situation ahead.
For example, the countdown seconds of the traffic light at the intersection ahead can be displayed on the instrument panel, and a prompt for smoothly passing through the green light intersection with the green wave speed can be given. When you are at the first place at the intersection, you don’t have to worry about missing the green light due to daydreaming or being reminded by the car behind with honking, because the system will remind you before the green light turns on.
The vehicle-infrastructure-cloud coordination system will calculate a “green wave speed” based on the change time of the signal light and the distance to the next intersection, so driving at this speed can avoid the red light ahead and smoothly pass through the intersection.
Imagine if every intersection could be passed through at a “green wave speed”, wouldn’t it be smooth sailing all the way?
Of course, this is only an ideal state, and actual road conditions are far more complex than imagined. When the road ahead begins to congest or encounters a vehicle that suddenly changes lanes, we may want to drive at the suggested green wave speed, but it may still be difficult to achieve.
The vehicle-infrastructure-cloud coordination system not only provides reminders for traffic lights and improves travel efficiency, but also alleviates the pressure of driving to a certain extent. Many times, our fatigue from driving comes not only from being constantly alert to surrounding vehicles and pedestrians, but also from anxiety about the unknown ahead, such as whether we can catch the next green light or encounter unexpected congestion on the way to work.
This kind of concern increases the pressure of driving. The vehicle’s anticipation of information that is not visible to the naked eye ahead helps to alleviate this pressure to some extent. For example, it can inform you of the countdown to the green light ahead, remind you to start driving when the light turns green, and alert you to sudden congestion ahead.
Currently, the six major functions and specific experiences provided by Ford’s vehicle-road cooperative technology include not only the aforementioned reminders of red and green light countdowns, green light starting prompts, and green wave speed, but also warnings of running red lights, road information broadcasting, and electronic road signs. They inform drivers of possible “concerns” through the dashboard, central control screen, and voice broadcasting.
In order to improve the user experience, Ford has developed and optimized based on the habits of Chinese users. For users who are not accustomed to frequent reminders, personalized settings such as sensitivity adjustment and sound reminder opening/closing can also be adjusted according to personal driving habits.
It’s Not Just the Vehicle and the Road That are Cooperating
Green light warnings, green light starts, electronic road signs, congestion reminders… Someone might say, “These functions are also provided by navigation software for reminders. What’s so different from the tips of vehicle-road cooperation?”
Due to the inability of mobile navigation software to be highly integrated with vehicles, it cannot affect the vehicle’s decision-making. It cannot assist the vehicle in making decisions in L3 and L4 level automatic driving.
In contrast, the “vehicle-road-cloud” mode can achieve long-distance information transmission through the linkage of vehicle-road testing infrastructure and the city’s intelligent network-connected cloud control platform. It can remind you of sudden accidents and congestion ahead in the first time, and even detect the red and green lights one kilometer away based on the current traffic situation and provide green wave speed suggestions.
Currently, Ford’s vehicle-road cooperative systems in Xi’an, Wuxi, Changsha, Guangzhou and other places use the “vehicle-road-cloud” mode.
Under this mode, in addition to providing practical information for users, it also makes the commercialization of vehicle-road cooperative technology relatively easier.
On the one hand, the connectivity between vehicles and the local city’s intelligent network-connected cloud control platform ensures the reliability of data operation.
All vehicles equipped with the vehicle-road cooperative system will upload the desensitized data to the cloud platform. Then, the cloud platform combines the information of traffic lights and other data to issue unified prompts, allowing vehicles, road infrastructure, city management platforms, cyclists, and pedestrians to share information such as their current status and action intentions through their respective communication devices. With the help of a clear data operation entity, the cloud platform, the interaction and access of vehicles to vehicle-road cooperative data are relatively easy and reliable, but achieving the “Car-Road-Cloud” mode of vehicle-road cooperation is not just about collaborating between vehicles and road infrastructure. It is a huge system engineering project. It not only requires vehicles to be “smart” enough to have the ability of real-time information synchronization and reception but also requires communication capability of roadside infrastructure. Therefore, 1341 intersection signal lights in the main urban area of Xi’an have been intelligently renovated to provide real-time road condition data.
In addition to smart cars and intelligent roads, the vehicle-road cooperative system also needs a clear operation entity of city intelligent networked cloud control platform and road infrastructure data, which requires tremendous coordination work from car companies. The delivery senior manager of Ford China Intelligent Networked Product, Fan Heng, told GeekCar that in the process of vehicle-road cooperative technology landing, dealing with the ownership and relevant operation issues of data in each city, and balancing the maximization of city operation entities, automakers, partners, and user rights, is the biggest challenge beyond technology.
On the other hand, this huge investment in the early stages also brings returns. The vehicle-road cooperative technology in the “Car-Road-Cloud” mode reduces the dependence of vehicles on intelligent software and hardware, allowing users to experience the convenience of intelligence at a lower threshold.
For example, in the case of Ford, real-time signal light data and road condition information of the vehicle-road cooperative system are transmitted through the data platform. These are currently standard for the six mass-produced models such as the new generation Mondeo, the all-new Ford F-150 Raptor, EVOS, Mustang Mach-E, Territory PLUS, and the all-new Explorer. After the vehicle-road cooperative system is applied in other cities, vehicles can also access it through OTA upgrades.
Finally, are vehicle-road cooperation and single bicycle intelligence opponents or teammates?Since some point in time, the intelligent driving ability, sensors, and even intelligent driving chips of a vehicle have become indicators of the intelligent level of a car. The intelligent level of a single vehicle has become the focus of most auto companies. Compared to this, in the eyes of many, vehicle-road coordination seems to stand in opposition to single-vehicle intelligence: when vehicles are smart enough, do we still need vehicle-road coordination?
Smart cars driving on the road are not independent entities without interference. If single-vehicle intelligence tests the vehicle’s perception, judgment, and decision-making ability for sudden situations on the road, then the coordinated cooperation between vehicle, road, and pedestrians is like being prepared for any contingency.
As the level of vehicle intelligence increases, and even when the driver has the authority to initiate driving, every trip becomes a major test for the intelligent vehicle, testing both the intelligent technology and system capabilities. Facing such a “major test”, both impromptu performance and pre-planning are essential, just as single-vehicle intelligence and vehicle-road coordination are indispensable. Now, the two parallel technical routes are actually teammates on the road to autonomous driving.
Of course, the limitations of single-vehicle intelligence at this stage and the need for improvement in the vehicle-road coordination system make stringent automakers prefer to use the information of the vehicle-road coordination system for guidance and advice, leaving the decision-making authority to the human driver. But this does not affect everyone’s thinking of incorporating vehicle-road coordination into vehicle driving control decisions in the future.
In response, Ford has also given ideas for new functions and scenarios for vehicle-road coordination systems in the future. For example, it plans to expand the scope of high-speed scenes, providing real-time warnings for accidents ahead on highways, combining with 5G to broadcast the actual situation of accidents ahead, and prompting vehicles behind of the dangers of hazardous debris on highways.
In the future, with the integration of vehicle-road coordination technology and advanced driving assistance systems, vehicle-road coordination technology will also participate in L3/L4 level autonomous driving, providing more vehicle control guidance. Maybe green lights could be programmed to turn on at intersections, simultaneously controlling the vehicle to start; or with city navigation assistance, controlling the vehicle to move at an efficient speed, even in synchronization with green waves; and maybe in the future, after the integration of L4 level autonomous driving, complete unmanned driving could be achieved…
Of course, these beautiful ideas require the tacit cooperation of vehicle-road coordination and single-vehicle intelligence.
Finally
Over a year ago, Ford’s vehicle-road coordination technology was put into use in Wuxi and Changsha. This was also the first time in China that the “vehicle-road-cloud” network mode was used to achieve mass production and application of vehicle-road coordination technology. Today, the vehicle-road coordination system has landed in Xi’an, which is the fourth city to implement it.The successive landing applications in four cities have shown us the conquest of car-road cooperative technology in one city after another, as well as another step towards the intelligence of automobiles. It no longer relies solely on the single-handed struggle of intelligent cars, but harnesses the power of smart infrastructure.
Imagine when the car-road cooperative system is widely popularized and highly integrated with the intelligent driving of vehicles, is the dream at the beginning of the article of a smooth journey all the way with green lights not far away?
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.